Halberd Standard (c. 600–221 BCE): Art, History and Details

Halberd Standard (c. 600–221 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This finial, being pear-shaped in section, is known to have been the handle of a halberd. Its ornament consists of broad bands intersecting to make angles, and of delicate lines ending in whorls. The asymmetrical part through the middle is derived from a bird, its head being at the upper right, its tail at the lower left. The whole object is coated with a green and blue patina of rare beauty.

Object facts

• Title: Halberd Standard
• Date: c. 600–221 BCE
• Culture: China, Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze inlaid with silver
• Dimensions: Overall: 10 cm (3 15/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Zhou Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1942.1085

A detail from the museum

The craftsman used silver inlay to create an eminently satisfying pattern of dashing straight lines and restless curves.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hollis, Howard. "Three Chinese Staff Ends." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 31, no. 1 (January 1944): 16–17.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.